KARACHI:
Two teenage cousins lost their lives on Sunday afternoon when a speeding water tanker rammed into their motorcycle near Kalapul, sparking public outrage that led to the tanker being torched.
According to DIG South Syed Asad Raza, the tragic accident occurred around 3:30pm on the main Korangi Road. Three cousins were travelling on a motorcycle when the tanker struck them and ran over their bike. The victims were rushed to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in a rickshaw, but doctors declared 15-year-old Ayan Afzal Shah and 13-year-old Tauseef Sohail Shah dead on arrival. Their third cousin miraculously survived without serious injuries.
Witnesses said that as the tanker driver attempted to flee the scene, other motorcyclists chased him down. The driver, however, abandoned the vehicle and managed to escape before he could be caught.
The devastating incident infuriated locals and commuters, who gathered in large numbers and set the tanker on fire in protest over the boys’ deaths.
Police later detained several individuals allegedly involved in torching the vehicle. Defence SHO Hukam Dad stated that law enforcers contacted the tanker’s owner, who assured them that the driver responsible for the accident would be handed over to authorities.
After completion of medico-legal formalities at JPMC, the bodies were shifted to the victims’ residence in Bilal Colony, Korangi, where preparations for burial were underway amid grief and anger among family members and neighbours.
